{"id":2029911,"date":"2026-07-06T18:02:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2029911"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:02:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:02:47","slug":"giannis-says-milwaukee-will-always-be-in-my-heart-as-bucks-heat-trade-made-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2029911","title":{"rendered":"Giannis says Milwaukee \u2018will always be in my heart\u2019 as Bucks-Heat trade made official"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Giannis Antetokounmpo released two farewell videos to the Bucks and the city of Milwaukee on Monday, saying in one that the city \u201cwill always be in my heart\u201d and \u201cwill always be my city, my team, my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to hear it from my mouth. The city of Milwaukee will always be in my heart,\u201d Antetokounmpo said in an initial short video released on social media<\/a>. \u201cThis is my home and this is a place that I had my kids. My mom is here. My father is here. My brothers played here. It made me the man that I am today. That will never ever change. No matter where I am, Milwaukee will always be my city, my team, my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The trade of Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat<\/a> became official Monday, with Tyler Herro, Kel\u2019el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jaku\u010dionis, the No. 13 pick (Nate Ament) and future draft considerations going to Milwaukee for Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo was the first party to acknowledge the trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin, I want them to remember this from me,\u201d Antetokounmpo said in the video. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about the basket. Don\u2019t worry about the championship. Don\u2019t worry about the winnings. Don\u2019t worry about the losses. I tried to be like them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the city of Milwaukee is blue collar. It\u2019s people that work extremely hard every single day. They give all their hard earned money just to come watch the Milwaukee Bucks. To come and feel something. To come to be a part of us. I hope that I was able to represent them the best that I could. And I was like them, I showed up to work, did everything, I was willing to do all the dirty work, just like them. I hope that bringing a trophy to the city meant something to them because it meant so much to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2764\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/x3dRX1StPE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) July 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Shortly thereafter, the Bucks posted a letter from general manager Jon Horst.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are few players in the history of professional sports who have elevated a franchise, a city and a fan base the way Giannis Antetokounmpo has for Milwaukee and the Bucks,\u201d Horst wrote<\/a>. \u201cGiannis arrived in Milwaukee from Greece as an 18-year-old with exceptional potential, relentless determination and an unwavering belief in what could be achieved. In his next 13 seasons, he became one of the greatest players in basketball history, the heart of our organization and the driving force behind an extraordinary era of Bucks basketball that will always be honored.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn behalf of our entire organization, please join us in expressing our deepest gratitude to Giannis and his family. This decision is in the best interest of both the Bucks and Giannis. I understand the emotions this news brings, and I share them. I\u2019m confident our path forward provides a strong foundation for sustained success. As we begin the next chapter of Bucks basketball, we do so with optimism, purpose and a clear vision to build on our standard of excellence while strengthening our competitive identity and winning culture under the leadership of our new head coach, Taylor Jenkins.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After the trade was announced, Antetokounmpo also released a video on his YouTube page featuring a final interview with longtime Bucks play-by-play broadcaster Jim Paschke.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, when people see me and think about me, they think about the things that I\u2019ve done for the team and things that I\u2019ve done for the city and how I\u2019ve carried myself and how I grew in this city,\u201d Antetokounmpo told Paschke. \u201cAnd hopefully, they remember those moments (rather) than the things other people say about me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Interviews with Paschke were an annual preseason tradition in Paschke\u2019s final seasons with the team before he retired in 2021, the same season Antetokounmpo helped lead the Bucks to their first championship since 1971. During the Bucks\u2019 championship celebration at Fiserv Forum, Antetokounmpo wore a shirt with Paschke\u2019s image on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played only on two teams in my life,\u201d Antetokounmpo told Paschke. \u201cI\u2019ve been here 13 years and the team prior to the Bucks, I was there for four, five years. This is where I raised my family. This is where my kids were born. This is my home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where I built all of my memories. This is where I became who I am today. Some people talk to me in the street and they say, \u2018Giannis, always do what\u2019s best for your family and do what\u2019s best for you. You\u2019ve done so much for the city. I can remember where I was when you won the championship and I\u2019ve been waiting for this for 30 years.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-time NBA MVP also admitted that moving away from Milwaukee brings about uncertainty.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m scared,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cI\u2019m scared of change. I\u2019m scared that the grass is not always greener. I\u2019m scared of, like, people love me here. People respect me here. People allow me to be myself in the city and I\u2019m scared that I might never find that again.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is something that I wake up every single day or when I take my showers at night and I think, maybe I\u2019ve waited too long. I see guys playing deep into the playoffs and I think maybe if I switch teams and I go somewhere else and I have a better opportunity, I can play deep into the playoffs, I can go try to chase another championship because I really want that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m scared that if I don\u2019t take that decision, that when I\u2019m going to be 37, 38 years old and I\u2019m retiring, I\u2019m going to be like, \u2018Why? Why didn\u2019t you take that risk?\u2019 And people don\u2019t understand, it\u2019s a risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interview was recorded in the Bucks\u2019 former practice facility at Archdiocese of Milwaukee in St. Francis. It may have been recorded before Antetokounmpo knew the Heat were acquiring him, as there are no references made to his new team in the 30-minute interview.<\/p>\n

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Antetokounmpo said he hopes the city of Milwaukee will still welcome him when he returns in a different jersey. He even said it would be great to one day return to Milwaukee at the end of his career, as Kevin Garnett did with the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo did not discuss his final few months with the Bucks, or what led to his breakup with the franchise at the end of this past season. He did touch on why he would welcome a move to a different team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole journey has been beautiful,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cI am extremely blessed, beyond blessed, and if God tells me that one championship is what my journey is supposed to be, I am extremely blessed and I will never question things that he has in store for me. I will never question his will, never. But I want a second one.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd I believe that I am capable of doing it. I thank God I\u2019m blessed with incredible talent and incredible willpower of putting the work in and trying to chase that. But if it doesn\u2019t happen, I won\u2019t look back and say, \u2018Yeah, I failed.\u2019 Because everything is part of a journey and everything leads to something, so I\u2019ll never look back and say I failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now officially a member of the Heat, Antetokounmpo will continue his journey for a second championship in a different city for the first time in his NBA career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Giannis Antetokounmpo released two farewell videos to the Bucks and the city of Milwaukee on Monday, saying in one that the city \u201cwill always be in my heart\u201d and \u201cwill always be my city, my team, my family.\u201d \u201cI want you to hear it from my mouth. The city of Milwaukee will always be in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2029911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2029911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2029911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2029911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2029911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}